Switching from Goldmine 6.7 to ACT Premium 2011

I am finally making the move from Goldmine 6.7 to ACT Prem 2011. I have my own Database as well as two others (one from each of my two small companies). I have been strongly advised to combine them into one Database as management of several is cumbersome, as I found in GM as well. So, I found one old post about "MigrateAdmin" - any other tips on making this the easiest transition we can?

Re: Switching from Goldmine 6.7 to ACT Premium 2011

I can't offer information about getting data out of Goldmine, but as for the ACT! database side: when combining database into 1 (the Target database), it is a good practice to create fields for the data you will be importing into before actually doing an import. For example: the ACT! database will contain a default set of fields, but your data may have several additional fields. Create an empty ACT! database and then define the new field (Tools > Define Fields menu). Then import your data.

Additionally, before you begin customizing layouts with the new fields you will want to think about your business flow and how the data positioning will work best for you.

Re: Switching from Goldmine 6.7 to ACT Premium 2011

I looked at your (Mike's) software and to get a price it seemed to want me to complete a form? Can you quote me or refer me to a link? And BTW, Congrats: >>After surpassing 10,000 support posts on Sage's Community Site, Sage North America invited GL Computing's Mike Lazarus be the very first Sage ACT! Community Development Partner <<

Anyhow I am bouncing the idea of either getting software like yours to do the one-time GM conversion or hiring a consultant for the task... Afterall, it's what I DON'T know I might have missed, right!?

In the mean time, I have finally got the ACT (2011) e-mail settings correct (once I learned that server ports are required default of 110 & 25 respectively and cannot be user-set, hmmmmm). I have a few Qs about ACT's basic interface that I am hoping have work arounds:

1) Never used Outlook and hope not to have to. I hope that ACT internal e-mail will work to do the basic tasks I do dozens of times an hour - manage Contact's email. Specifically, when sending receiving, replying or forwarding, will each completed

task automatically become a History entry in each respective Contact's History? If so, what is the command (task) I use when I simply want to file a received e-mail with a Contact's History without replying to the e-mail? Are emails also autoimatically filed in a chronoligical order somewhere?

2) In the History tab, how can I set a column to display "Regarding" field data exclusive of "Details" (e.g.. NOT "Regarding & Details")? like I can in "Activities" tab columns. My thinking is the "Details" can easily be read over on the right it seems and when the data exceeds a few characters, it starts to expand the History entry additional lines, which makes it very cumbersome to quickly peruse and identify History activities, whether they be calls, apts, or emails. Or maybe there's a one line display option for History items?

3) In ACT email, is there a way to only "get e-mail" for a specific e-mail account as opposed to "Send/Receive" which seems to send and receive everything..

4) I am a "keystroke" user, I prefer to use my tabs, shift+tabs, home, end, page up and down, etc. to grabbing a mouse (or worse yet using my touchpad) to navigate among fields. As such a user, my experience is that most programs, websites, whatever, automatically select the data in the respective field when a user tabs to it allowing for immediate editing. However, I quickly learned that ACT drops the cursor at the end of the existing data. Is this a setting that can be changed? I feel like a bunch of speed bumps were installed in my navigational pathways!

5) What is the dealio with "Company" field in a contact and "Companies" tab over with Calendar and Groups? Is there any intended relationship between the field and the tab? I think I read a forum thread that likened the ACT "Companies" tab with GM's "Organization Chart". Any direction for clarity on this would be helpful.

Re: Switching from Goldmine 6.7 to ACT Premium 2011

1. In my opinion, yes2. Not that I can see in the product ... could be done through SDK, but not a cheap option3. Yes4. Tab order can be set in Layout editor5. It can be automated and has some extra functions, like ability to update an address in the Company and then update linked contacts. See this ACT! Knowledge Base article -